Hacked off? Data breaches abound (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 4)

08 February 2017

The inevitable rise of the data breach, otherwise known as the ‘hack’, continued unabated in 2016. The UK government reported that two thirds of ‘large’ business (i.e. greater than or equal to 250 employees – regardless of revenue) “experienced a cyber-breach or attack in the past year”.

Not only that but the breath-taking scale of the problem became apparent when Yahoo disclosed last year that a hack in 2013 had resulted in up to 1 billion accounts being compromised.

The data taken is thought to have included some or all of the following: names, addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers and passwords. It is not so much a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.Breaches are no longer incidents that happen to other people or the poorly run business. They are undoubtedly mainstream and can happen to any of us. Giants such as Tesco, Sage and Talk Talk have been affected in recent times. And it’s not always hacks from the outside that cause the problem. Reports suggest that in as many as 40% of all cases of data breach, the perpetrators are actually employees.

So what to do? Well, as the old adage goes, prevention is better than cure. We should all be acutely aware of our (potential) vulnerabilities and put in place appropriate practices and procedures. Within any organisation it is crucially important to ensure awareness of and education in relation to cyber security. This includes looking at your own organisation, identifying potential issues before they become a problem and developing a clear strategy so you know what to do, when, and how to investigate, manage, contain, and deal with a breach. A joined up, practical approach for the whole organisation is best. Consideration should be given not only to legal issues around internal policies, practices and procedures but how others such as insurers and PR specialists can provide practical assistance too.

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New Year’s resolutions for better IP (Brands & IP Newsnotes- issue 4)

08 February 2017

Why stop at making personal resolutions for the New Year when you can make them for your IP too. The start of the year is an excellent time to consider your general IP strategy and even to introduce new practices that will make protecting, using and enforcing your IP that much easier in 2017.

At the end of 2016 the OECD/EUIPO released research suggesting that the total trade in counterfeit and pirated products in the EU amounted to as much as 85 billion Euros in 2013. Luxury goods are top of the list and firmly in the sights of counterfeiters for Christmas. So what was done to tackle the problem for Christmas 2016?

Rubik’s Cubes: In a spin (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 4)

08 February 2017

Those of us of a certain age will remember the frustration of trying to complete a ‘Rubik’s Cube’. But following the CJEU’s ruling that the trade mark registration for the shape of the famous puzzle is invalid; it is the owner of the original Rubik’s Cube 3D puzzle that will be feeling frustrated.

In a recent case, Action Storage (a producer of lockers, such as the ones installed in schools) sued G-Force (another producer of lockers) for infringing its design rights in producing a similar product.

Step by step - trade marks in China (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 4)

08 February 2017

Brand owners will take comfort from a decision of China’s highest Court (the Supreme People’s Court of China) in early December. As part of a long running
battle between former basketball star, Michael Jordan, and Chinese sports manufacturing giant, Qiaodan Sports, the former basketball star has finally come out on top – at least in relation to one specific trade mark. Overturning decisions from the lower courts, the Supreme People’s Court revoked a trade mark held by Qiaodan for “Jordan” represented in Chinese characters.

IP myth busters (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 4)

08 February 2017

Myth and legend is not just the stuff of Lord of the Rings. There are plenty of ommon misconceptions in intellectual property which are often further exacerbated by statements on the internet and the popularity of TV shows where legal ‘advice’ or
commentary may be given. Here are a few of the most common ones we hear and the truth behind them.

UK proceeding with UPC (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 4)

07 February 2017

The UK government announced that it will proceed with the Unitary Patent and the Unitary Patent Court (“UPC”). This ends months of speculation in the patent community as to what would happen afterthe Brexit vote last June. The UK was a mandatory signatory to the UPC Agreement and there had been concern that the project would stall in light of the UK’s European exit. Only Germany is left to ratify the Agreement and it is expected that the UPC will open in December this year.